U.S. stocks, oil and other financial markets around the world clawed back some of their historic plunge from a day before on hopes that the U.S. and other governments around the world will pump in more aid for the virus-weakened global economy.
Investors welcomed Tuesday’s reprieve, but weren’t pretending this is the end to the market’s plunges, which took the S&P 500 on Monday to its worst day since the 2008 financial crisis. Stocks have had jumps even bigger than this in the past couple weeks, only for the bottom to give out again.
Nonetheless, hope was rising that the big, co-ordinated effort from authorities around the world that markets have been waiting for may be on the way. President Donald Trump says his administration will ask Congress for payroll tax relief and other quick measures to help protect from the spread of COVID-19, which has pushed airlines to cancel flights and prodded Italy to lock down the entire country.
Canada’s main stock index was up 400 points in early trading Tuesday, a day after the Toronto Stock Exchange posted its biggest one-day loss since 1987, triggered by a collapse in oil prices.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 439.85 points at 14,954.09 at one point, off the day’s high.
In Japan, a task force set up by the prime minister on Tuesday approved a 430 billion yen ($4.1 billion) package with support for small to medium-sized businesses.
Perhaps the most notable market move Tuesday was that Treasury yields also pushed higher in a sign that fear has receded a bit, though they remain far below where they were even a week ago.
The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 0.65% from 0.49% late Monday. A week ago, it had never been below 1%.
The S&P 500 was up 2.5%, as of 9:52 a.m. Eastern time. It recovered about a third of its loss from the day before.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 658 points, or 2.8%, to 24,513, and the Nasdaq composite was up 2.6%.
Brent crude, the international standard, rose $2.96, or 8.6%, to $37.32 per barrel, while benchmark U.S. crude rose $2.53 to $33.66. Oil prices plunged 25% on Monday amid a price war between producers, who are pulling more oil out of the ground even though demand is falling due to the virus.
